Grades 2 and 5: 2007-2008

So, I said I would start laying out some plans here. I really want to try Sonlight, but I just cannot afford the whole thing. My oldest is almost 10, has Aspergers and will be in Grade 5. My second child is 7 and will be in Grade 2. My third child is 3.5 right now and I have no academic adventures planned for him aside from reading a lot. Anything I come up with will be in a separate post. My oldest has requested some order and my second has requested fun. So, I'm trying to put together a plan ahead of time to take advantage of Ebay and our local used curriculum sale this Spring. We homeschooled for 2 years before this year, so I know some of things that work for us and some of the things that do not. This is our plan so far....any thoughts?

I really wanted to add this...I'm not sure if I'm taking a break from The Big School this next year. So, creating a plan of study will really help my dear sweet adoring husband to have an easier life. He cannot handle much more on his plate. We might have to consider hiring my Niece for some child playing during the week, as well. I would love to just leave the house and put a plan down that says...here do this!

Heather

Otherwise here is the plan right now:
Planner
10yos really wants a planner like he has in school right now. So, I'm going to start searching for one. He really likes the spiral binding.

Magazines

My Grandma loves to buy us magazines, so maybe I'll request these for my summer birthday.

Order Home-Ed magazine for 2 years. $48.00 We all love magazines. This one is great, but the library is always out of them.

I have no idea if I should get a subscription of Learning through History Magazine. It looks really interesting, but maybe I'll just let them pick a couple to order individually. Here is a review Does anyone else have any reviews for this magazine?


History
I have a huge heart for understanding other cultures. I believe G-d has really impressed that upon me and that I am to pass that on to my children. I think it's really hard to separate History from the study of cultures and geography. We have tried doing Chronological Historyin the past. I really, really wanted to enjoy it, but none of us did. That is when I realized the method does not work for any of us. I'm their mom for a reason. So, we will be using different sources to strew about and hope they find some interests.

1. Homeschool in the Woods Timeline Figures for whatever time period Gibran or Porter wants to study $19.95. I think I might get the CD's that you can print. Do they have a MAC version? I just checked and it's MAC compatible. They are in pdf format, so that should work just fine.

2. Make Timeline book with our own pages, so we can include maps and large pictures-Notebook and paper $10.00 Book of Centuries

3. Family Pass to the State Historical Society-Free Admission to State History Museum $65.00

4. History Pockets $19.95. The boys love these things. They are great for when they want paperwork stuff!

5.The ReMARKable map from Rainbow Resource looks neat. I guess it's like OR is what the map Sonlight uses. I guess this might be nice to hang up. We used a full color one in the past and it was really helpful. I don't know if we have it still. When we would read during the week we might circle a country that came up. G might be reading a nature magazine and read about another country, so we would find it and put Gorilla there or whatever he was reading about. It's fun and well...easy. Once, you get in the habit you start to look at the map whenever you see a new country or whatever.


Math
Each boy will get Math U See. I'm, also, interested in Noble Knights of Knowledge but yikes it's expensive.

Language Arts

1. Book Reports for a few books a month. We read a lot so probably just a few here and there. A sneaky way to get some handwriting in.

2. I'm considering Copywork for boys and little boys $19.95.

3. If P is still having problems reading I might get AlphaPhonics.

4. A Reason for Handwriting for both boys. G is working on this anyway to do cursive because everyone in his class knows cursive. I think it's important, but it has a hard time with handwriting. He is doing better.

5. First Language Lessons for P if I think he can do it. I don't want to overwhelm him. Our library has it, so I can just check it out from there.

Readers

Use book selections from Sonlight, Ambleside Online Grade 2, and Ambleside Online Grade 5 to create reading list. We are avid readers and I'm a whizz at the library, so we have read quite a few of these books already. But, I would like to come up with a list. I'm thinking I could print these out and then highlight them once they are read. Stay tuned as I update this more. Did I mention I love to read and my love has been passed onto my boys.

Science

1. We love Apologia Science. We will be going through Exploring Creation with Zoology 1 and Exploring Creation with Zoology 2. I'm not sure how long that will take us. I know it may be hard to believe, but I don't believe in pushing formal academics during the elementary years. It's the time to look into everything and really find our loves. Zoology is for our 10yos. He wants to major in Zoology or Biology when he is grown. If it takes us four years to get through this program I would be fine with that. If all we do for a month is this program I will be fine with that.

2. The ZooGuide at Christianbook.com. G has requested this book. I would like to get him the guide as well as a zoo pass. We have one that is close to us and one that takes a ferry ride. But, the one in Seattle is so much bigger....


Foreign Language

Rosetta Stone is available for free through our local library catalog.

These are some extras
There is rock climbing once a month throughout the school year.
Enchanted Learning Daily Calendar gives interesting topics for every day of the month. The boys can look through here and see if anything pops for them.
Homeschool Sports Club-Fall Soccer, Winter Basketball, Spring Baseball
I think this is perfect for our Grade 5. We have been looking for something like this to help him understand what having Aspergers really means.